And the worst thing for Honda is after 3 or 4 races of the 2008 season they admitted their environmentally friendlier car was not able to compete at all and wrote the 2008 season off without putting much into it, instead all their efforts and around 2/3s of the £290 million they spent this year was towards the 2009 season!

Ecclestone is crazy since he is divorcing and losing half of his fortuneWith all the new stupid changes I am considering not watching F1 anymore.

It really is at a crossroads these next couple of years. With how expensive it is to run in the sport now, teams are really struggling because of the financial situation of the world. While there's also a lot of talk Ecclestone and co want to bring in a standard engine for ALL teams from 2010 onwards. Ferrari have said they may pull out ouf of F1 if this happened as they wouldn't be allowed to develop and test their own engines, while Alonso said he may retire already from the sport if this change happened.

excellent post Chris!there's only thing I like about the financial crisis, Hockenheim is in trouble. it's the circuit I dislike the most because the most talented driver ever (with Senna but I like Imola) was killed there: Scotttish legend Jim Clark. and with the new layout in the 90's, the memorial where he lost his life is in the middle of the forest, very difficult to reach.

Thanks Conchita Yeah you are right Hockenheim is another track which is in trouble, thats not a circuit I particularly like either. Thats very sad how Jim Clark died there and now the memorial for him is in the middle of the forest The track has completely changed in the last few years and no longer holds its tradition as one of, if not the fastest track in F1. Its just an average, everyday track now with its tradition and history gone so it might as well be removed from the calendar with all these changes that are going on.

And the worst thing for Honda is after 3 or 4 races of the 2008 season they admitted their environmentally friendlier car was not able to compete at all and wrote the 2008 season off without putting much into it, instead all their efforts and around 2/3s of the £290 million they spent this year was towards the 2009 season!

Ecclestone is crazy since he is divorcing and losing half of his fortuneWith all the new stupid changes I am considering not watching F1 anymore.

It really is at a crossroads these next couple of years. With how expensive it is to run in the sport now, teams are really struggling because of the financial situation of the world. While there's also a lot of talk Ecclestone and co want to bring in a standard engine for ALL teams from 2010 onwards. Ferrari have said they may pull out ouf of F1 if this happened as they wouldn't be allowed to develop and test their own engines, while Alonso said he may retire already from the sport if this change happened.

excellent post Chris!there's only thing I like about the financial crisis, Hockenheim is in trouble. it's the circuit I dislike the most because the most talented driver ever (with Senna but I like Imola) was killed there: Scotttish legend Jim Clark. and with the new layout in the 90's, the memorial where he lost his life is in the middle of the forest, very difficult to reach.

Thanks Conchita Yeah you are right Hockenheim is another track which is in trouble, thats not a circuit I particularly like either. Thats very sad how Jim Clark died there and now the memorial for him is in the middle of the forest The track has completely changed in the last few years and no longer holds its tradition as one of, if not the fastest track in F1. Its just an average, everyday track now with its tradition and history gone so it might as well be removed from the calendar with all these changes that are going on.

the Old Nurburring and the legendary Avus will always be the best german f1 track, Stewart called the Ring in Nurburg " the green hell"

also with the financial crisis, Ecclestone doesnt care but teams are not happy about losing big markets, canadian gp, us grand prix, french gp....

And an all British and Scottish rivalry at that it would have been

I don't at all like the new Nurburg Ring, so ordinary and no excitment in the track and not a real track to test the drivers, so seems that change from the old track to the new Nurberring track was a backwards step too.

Yeah those markets you rightly mention are huge and for teams to lose them at this time with the world and finance as it is, then its a huge blow to them and something they could really do with right now.

And the worst thing for Honda is after 3 or 4 races of the 2008 season they admitted their environmentally friendlier car was not able to compete at all and wrote the 2008 season off without putting much into it, instead all their efforts and around 2/3s of the £290 million they spent this year was towards the 2009 season!

Ecclestone is crazy since he is divorcing and losing half of his fortuneWith all the new stupid changes I am considering not watching F1 anymore.

It really is at a crossroads these next couple of years. With how expensive it is to run in the sport now, teams are really struggling because of the financial situation of the world. While there's also a lot of talk Ecclestone and co want to bring in a standard engine for ALL teams from 2010 onwards. Ferrari have said they may pull out ouf of F1 if this happened as they wouldn't be allowed to develop and test their own engines, while Alonso said he may retire already from the sport if this change happened.

excellent post Chris!there's only thing I like about the financial crisis, Hockenheim is in trouble. it's the circuit I dislike the most because the most talented driver ever (with Senna but I like Imola) was killed there: Scotttish legend Jim Clark. and with the new layout in the 90's, the memorial where he lost his life is in the middle of the forest, very difficult to reach.

Thanks Conchita Yeah you are right Hockenheim is another track which is in trouble, thats not a circuit I particularly like either. Thats very sad how Jim Clark died there and now the memorial for him is in the middle of the forest The track has completely changed in the last few years and no longer holds its tradition as one of, if not the fastest track in F1. Its just an average, everyday track now with its tradition and history gone so it might as well be removed from the calendar with all these changes that are going on.

the Old Nurburring and the legendary Avus will always be the best german f1 track, Stewart called the Ring in Nurburg " the green hell"

also with the financial crisis, Ecclestone doesnt care but teams are not happy about losing big markets, canadian gp, us grand prix, french gp....

And an all British and Scottish rivalry at that it would have been

I don't at all like the new Nurburg Ring, so ordinary and no excitment in the track and not a real track to test the drivers, so seems that change from the old track to the new Nurberring track was a backwards step too.

Yeah those markets you rightly mention are huge and for teams to lose them at this time with the world and finance as it is, then its a huge blow to them and something they could really do with right now.

Things certainly not looking good for f1....Honda was one of the few teams I liked...Honda have been perhaps the only company (in both race cars and non race cars) to emphasize the importance of meeting global pollution standards....they were the first to meet Euro 5 standards and they were the first to research on non-gas substitutes for cars..(projects still going on in a big way...they haven't suspended that despite the recession)... BTW what is the need to introduce the same type of engines in all the cars? Ferrari is right...where's the scope of improvement then? If Force india and Ferrari have the same engine...that would be a pathetic scenario...Ferrari have been known to improvise at a rapid fire rate...definitely a huge blow...as it is I was gradually losing interest in the sport because of the decreasing overtakes year after year..most cars that start in pole position winning the race...it had become quite boring actually because F1 is a sport of adrenaline rush...if this is the way its going to be, i'm afraid f1 is going to be deep in trouble.

And the worst thing for Honda is after 3 or 4 races of the 2008 season they admitted their environmentally friendlier car was not able to compete at all and wrote the 2008 season off without putting much into it, instead all their efforts and around 2/3s of the £290 million they spent this year was towards the 2009 season!

Ecclestone is crazy since he is divorcing and losing half of his fortuneWith all the new stupid changes I am considering not watching F1 anymore.

It really is at a crossroads these next couple of years. With how expensive it is to run in the sport now, teams are really struggling because of the financial situation of the world. While there's also a lot of talk Ecclestone and co want to bring in a standard engine for ALL teams from 2010 onwards. Ferrari have said they may pull out ouf of F1 if this happened as they wouldn't be allowed to develop and test their own engines, while Alonso said he may retire already from the sport if this change happened.

excellent post Chris!there's only thing I like about the financial crisis, Hockenheim is in trouble. it's the circuit I dislike the most because the most talented driver ever (with Senna but I like Imola) was killed there: Scotttish legend Jim Clark. and with the new layout in the 90's, the memorial where he lost his life is in the middle of the forest, very difficult to reach.

Thanks Conchita Yeah you are right Hockenheim is another track which is in trouble, thats not a circuit I particularly like either. Thats very sad how Jim Clark died there and now the memorial for him is in the middle of the forest The track has completely changed in the last few years and no longer holds its tradition as one of, if not the fastest track in F1. Its just an average, everyday track now with its tradition and history gone so it might as well be removed from the calendar with all these changes that are going on.

the Old Nurburring and the legendary Avus will always be the best german f1 track, Stewart called the Ring in Nurburg " the green hell"

also with the financial crisis, Ecclestone doesnt care but teams are not happy about losing big markets, canadian gp, us grand prix, french gp....

And an all British and Scottish rivalry at that it would have been

I don't at all like the new Nurburg Ring, so ordinary and no excitment in the track and not a real track to test the drivers, so seems that change from the old track to the new Nurberring track was a backwards step too.

Yeah those markets you rightly mention are huge and for teams to lose them at this time with the world and finance as it is, then its a huge blow to them and something they could really do with right now.

Things certainly not looking good for f1....Honda was one of the few teams I liked...Honda have been perhaps the only company (in both race cars and non race cars) to emphasize the importance of meeting global pollution standards....they were the first to meet Euro 5 standards and they were the first to research on non-gas substitutes for cars..(projects still going on in a big way...they haven't suspended that despite the recession)... BTW what is the need to introduce the same type of engines in all the cars? Ferrari is right...where's the scope of improvement then? If Force india and Ferrari have the same engine...that would be a pathetic scenario...Ferrari have been known to improvise at a rapid fire rate...definitely a huge blow...as it is I was gradually losing interest in the sport because of the decreasing overtakes year after year..most cars that start in pole position winning the race...it had become quite boring actually because F1 is a sport of adrenaline rush...if this is the way its going to be, i'm afraid f1 is going to be deep in trouble.

Yeah Honda went for a much more environmentally friendly car for the 2008 season but thing with that was it cost them any chance of competing with the other teams. They quickly realised the car had no pace and simply wasn't good enough in all aspects so instead wrote the season off in April to look purely to 2009 and then this happens. The company will have lost and wasted £200 million on 2009 and not to mention the staff and trying to develop the cars- so hours and hours of time for no result.They are maybe looking to standardise all engines and have them the same for all teams from 2010 because the costs of the sport are running out of control. The average team will spend almost £300 a year on the sport, so about $500 million per season. Teams as Honda have shown just can't keep this up and the smaller teams wil be the first to drop off. If they can have the same engine for all teams it will mean the costs are cut in terms of development and costs will be cut for the really huge engines some teams produce. But I agree you can't have a Ferrari and Force India running on the same engines. There would be very little point in having teams then as the main thing teams develop- the engine would no longer be possible. Thats why Ferrari may look to get out of the sport if they can't do that and why Alonso may look to move away from F1.I used to love F1 with all the overtaking and exciting drama but now I couldn't agree with you more when you talk about the overtaking aspect. This has almost gone now, and more street circuits is only going to kill that even more. No overtaking in some of the races now makes it so boring and hard to watch. Pole position wins more than ver now, which is not at all good for the sport, its image and getting and keeping fans. Just think how the overtaking would decrease even more if they were all running the same engines. The only thing to separate drivers then would be smaller aspects of the cars performance and the quality of the driver himself.

And the worst thing for Honda is after 3 or 4 races of the 2008 season they admitted their environmentally friendlier car was not able to compete at all and wrote the 2008 season off without putting much into it, instead all their efforts and around 2/3s of the £290 million they spent this year was towards the 2009 season!

Ecclestone is crazy since he is divorcing and losing half of his fortuneWith all the new stupid changes I am considering not watching F1 anymore.

It really is at a crossroads these next couple of years. With how expensive it is to run in the sport now, teams are really struggling because of the financial situation of the world. While there's also a lot of talk Ecclestone and co want to bring in a standard engine for ALL teams from 2010 onwards. Ferrari have said they may pull out ouf of F1 if this happened as they wouldn't be allowed to develop and test their own engines, while Alonso said he may retire already from the sport if this change happened.

excellent post Chris!there's only thing I like about the financial crisis, Hockenheim is in trouble. it's the circuit I dislike the most because the most talented driver ever (with Senna but I like Imola) was killed there: Scotttish legend Jim Clark. and with the new layout in the 90's, the memorial where he lost his life is in the middle of the forest, very difficult to reach.

Thanks Conchita Yeah you are right Hockenheim is another track which is in trouble, thats not a circuit I particularly like either. Thats very sad how Jim Clark died there and now the memorial for him is in the middle of the forest The track has completely changed in the last few years and no longer holds its tradition as one of, if not the fastest track in F1. Its just an average, everyday track now with its tradition and history gone so it might as well be removed from the calendar with all these changes that are going on.

the Old Nurburring and the legendary Avus will always be the best german f1 track, Stewart called the Ring in Nurburg " the green hell"

also with the financial crisis, Ecclestone doesnt care but teams are not happy about losing big markets, canadian gp, us grand prix, french gp....

And an all British and Scottish rivalry at that it would have been

I don't at all like the new Nurburg Ring, so ordinary and no excitment in the track and not a real track to test the drivers, so seems that change from the old track to the new Nurberring track was a backwards step too.

Yeah those markets you rightly mention are huge and for teams to lose them at this time with the world and finance as it is, then its a huge blow to them and something they could really do with right now.

Things certainly not looking good for f1....Honda was one of the few teams I liked...Honda have been perhaps the only company (in both race cars and non race cars) to emphasize the importance of meeting global pollution standards....they were the first to meet Euro 5 standards and they were the first to research on non-gas substitutes for cars..(projects still going on in a big way...they haven't suspended that despite the recession)... BTW what is the need to introduce the same type of engines in all the cars? Ferrari is right...where's the scope of improvement then? If Force india and Ferrari have the same engine...that would be a pathetic scenario...Ferrari have been known to improvise at a rapid fire rate...definitely a huge blow...as it is I was gradually losing interest in the sport because of the decreasing overtakes year after year..most cars that start in pole position winning the race...it had become quite boring actually because F1 is a sport of adrenaline rush...if this is the way its going to be, i'm afraid f1 is going to be deep in trouble.

Yeah Honda went for a much more environmentally friendly car for the 2008 season but thing with that was it cost them any chance of competing with the other teams. They quickly realised the car had no pace and simply wasn't good enough in all aspects so instead wrote the season off in April to look purely to 2009 and then this happens. The company will have lost and wasted £200 million on 2009 and not to mention the staff and trying to develop the cars- so hours and hours of time for no result.They are maybe looking to standardise all engines and have them the same for all teams from 2010 because the costs of the sport are running out of control. The average team will spend almost £300 a year on the sport, so about $500 million per season. Teams as Honda have shown just can't keep this up and the smaller teams wil be the first to drop off. If they can have the same engine for all teams it will mean the costs are cut in terms of development and costs will be cut for the really huge engines some teams produce. But I agree you can't have a Ferrari and Force India running on the same engines. There would be very little point in having teams then as the main thing teams develop- the engine would no longer be possible. Thats why Ferrari may look to get out of the sport if they can't do that and why Alonso may look to move away from F1.I used to love F1 with all the overtaking and exciting drama but now I couldn't agree with you more when you talk about the overtaking aspect. This has almost gone now, and more street circuits is only going to kill that even more. No overtaking in some of the races now makes it so boring and hard to watch. Pole position wins more than ver now, which is not at all good for the sport, its image and getting and keeping fans. Just think how the overtaking would decrease even more if they were all running the same engines. The only thing to separate drivers then would be smaller aspects of the cars performance and the quality of the driver himself.

Exactly which only means that we won't have terrific combos of man and machine any more....Alonso-Renault or schumi-ferrari, Mc Laren-Hamilton.....its all going to be the same...Ferrari hugely relies on its technological advances...frankly none of the drivers out there have the natural talent of hamilton...which means, give the same car to all, hamilton will zoom to victory in every race...which implies there's going to be a terrible dearth of competition...even more bad news for the fans....What's with them making the tracks narrower and narrower? Do they want to make it even more boring? i miss the good old days of racing....Changing of tracks is no good....btw what's your opinion on the night race in singapore?? That's something i couldn't take a liking to....Ok its unique...but i need time to get used to it...i don't like the Malasian GP either...the facilities there are really not upto the mark...soaring temperatures don't help either...why modify perfect tracks and make them so narrow? Atleast i hope the recession doesn't affect the way it is predicted to...

And the worst thing for Honda is after 3 or 4 races of the 2008 season they admitted their environmentally friendlier car was not able to compete at all and wrote the 2008 season off without putting much into it, instead all their efforts and around 2/3s of the £290 million they spent this year was towards the 2009 season!

Ecclestone is crazy since he is divorcing and losing half of his fortuneWith all the new stupid changes I am considering not watching F1 anymore.

It really is at a crossroads these next couple of years. With how expensive it is to run in the sport now, teams are really struggling because of the financial situation of the world. While there's also a lot of talk Ecclestone and co want to bring in a standard engine for ALL teams from 2010 onwards. Ferrari have said they may pull out ouf of F1 if this happened as they wouldn't be allowed to develop and test their own engines, while Alonso said he may retire already from the sport if this change happened.

excellent post Chris!there's only thing I like about the financial crisis, Hockenheim is in trouble. it's the circuit I dislike the most because the most talented driver ever (with Senna but I like Imola) was killed there: Scotttish legend Jim Clark. and with the new layout in the 90's, the memorial where he lost his life is in the middle of the forest, very difficult to reach.

Thanks Conchita Yeah you are right Hockenheim is another track which is in trouble, thats not a circuit I particularly like either. Thats very sad how Jim Clark died there and now the memorial for him is in the middle of the forest The track has completely changed in the last few years and no longer holds its tradition as one of, if not the fastest track in F1. Its just an average, everyday track now with its tradition and history gone so it might as well be removed from the calendar with all these changes that are going on.

the Old Nurburring and the legendary Avus will always be the best german f1 track, Stewart called the Ring in Nurburg " the green hell"

also with the financial crisis, Ecclestone doesnt care but teams are not happy about losing big markets, canadian gp, us grand prix, french gp....

And an all British and Scottish rivalry at that it would have been

I don't at all like the new Nurburg Ring, so ordinary and no excitment in the track and not a real track to test the drivers, so seems that change from the old track to the new Nurberring track was a backwards step too.

Yeah those markets you rightly mention are huge and for teams to lose them at this time with the world and finance as it is, then its a huge blow to them and something they could really do with right now.

Things certainly not looking good for f1....Honda was one of the few teams I liked...Honda have been perhaps the only company (in both race cars and non race cars) to emphasize the importance of meeting global pollution standards....they were the first to meet Euro 5 standards and they were the first to research on non-gas substitutes for cars..(projects still going on in a big way...they haven't suspended that despite the recession)... BTW what is the need to introduce the same type of engines in all the cars? Ferrari is right...where's the scope of improvement then? If Force india and Ferrari have the same engine...that would be a pathetic scenario...Ferrari have been known to improvise at a rapid fire rate...definitely a huge blow...as it is I was gradually losing interest in the sport because of the decreasing overtakes year after year..most cars that start in pole position winning the race...it had become quite boring actually because F1 is a sport of adrenaline rush...if this is the way its going to be, i'm afraid f1 is going to be deep in trouble.

Yeah Honda went for a much more environmentally friendly car for the 2008 season but thing with that was it cost them any chance of competing with the other teams. They quickly realised the car had no pace and simply wasn't good enough in all aspects so instead wrote the season off in April to look purely to 2009 and then this happens. The company will have lost and wasted £200 million on 2009 and not to mention the staff and trying to develop the cars- so hours and hours of time for no result.They are maybe looking to standardise all engines and have them the same for all teams from 2010 because the costs of the sport are running out of control. The average team will spend almost £300 a year on the sport, so about $500 million per season. Teams as Honda have shown just can't keep this up and the smaller teams wil be the first to drop off. If they can have the same engine for all teams it will mean the costs are cut in terms of development and costs will be cut for the really huge engines some teams produce. But I agree you can't have a Ferrari and Force India running on the same engines. There would be very little point in having teams then as the main thing teams develop- the engine would no longer be possible. Thats why Ferrari may look to get out of the sport if they can't do that and why Alonso may look to move away from F1.I used to love F1 with all the overtaking and exciting drama but now I couldn't agree with you more when you talk about the overtaking aspect. This has almost gone now, and more street circuits is only going to kill that even more. No overtaking in some of the races now makes it so boring and hard to watch. Pole position wins more than ver now, which is not at all good for the sport, its image and getting and keeping fans. Just think how the overtaking would decrease even more if they were all running the same engines. The only thing to separate drivers then would be smaller aspects of the cars performance and the quality of the driver himself.

Exactly which only means that we won't have terrific combos of man and machine any more....Alonso-Renault or schumi-ferrari, Mc Laren-Hamilton.....its all going to be the same...Ferrari hugely relies on its technological advances...frankly none of the drivers out there have the natural talent of hamilton...which means, give the same car to all, hamilton will zoom to victory in every race...which implies there's going to be a terrible dearth of competition...even more bad news for the fans....What's with them making the tracks narrower and narrower? Do they want to make it even more boring? i miss the good old days of racing....Changing of tracks is no good....btw what's your opinion on the night race in singapore?? That's something i couldn't take a liking to....Ok its unique...but i need time to get used to it...i don't like the Malasian GP either...the facilities there are really not upto the mark...soaring temperatures don't help either...why modify perfect tracks and make them so narrow? Atleast i hope the recession doesn't affect the way it is predicted to...

Definitely those fantastic combo's you come up with would be a thing of the past with all the teams having the same engines. Hamilton has got unbelievable natural talent in the car and of the current drivers I feel there is only Alonso that could challenge him in that respect so that would dramatically reduce the competition.The modern way for circuits now seems to me to make them narrower. I've no idea why they would want to do that, as a wider track just using common sense says there's going to be much more racing. I know some of the tracks have been changed and redeveloped for safety reasons. The engines got bigger and more powerful so as a result they reduce the speed of tracks to compensate for this. Maybe thats a little to do with narrower tracks.Singapore and a night race was very different and a new experience to say the least and its pretty cool to have the sport going through the heart of the city at night. But its another slower street circuit, with not a lot of chance to overtake. If it wasn't for the crash there this year and the safety car coming out when it did to completely change the positions in the race it would have been boring. I just don't know how big an effect the race will be when the novelty of night racing wears off. Also I was not at all impresed with the slow and small Valencia track- thats not the way for this sport to go at all.Malaysia does have the serious problem of humidity and its terrible conditions for the drivers, and then other times there you have the almost monsoon rain- so thats a tough race. I think the rack is better than most of those recent developed ones in Asia and that part of the world. As I think Asia/Middle East are tracks far too similar to one another, and this along with no history at the track or city seems to make the GP less worthy still. Some of the tracks being made now are s 'ordinary' and 'boring' they're not doing anything at all to help the sport and take it forward.

Tilke has done the layouts of all the new/renovated f1 tracks so basically you have the same kind of circuits and the same style of races. it's so boring.dont need to mention that Tilke is associated with Ecclestone.

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Tilke has done the layouts of all the new/renovated f1 tracks so basically you have the same kind of circuits and the same style of races. it's so boring.dont need to mention that Tilke is associated with Ecclestone.

And the worst thing for Honda is after 3 or 4 races of the 2008 season they admitted their environmentally friendlier car was not able to compete at all and wrote the 2008 season off without putting much into it, instead all their efforts and around 2/3s of the £290 million they spent this year was towards the 2009 season!

Ecclestone is crazy since he is divorcing and losing half of his fortuneWith all the new stupid changes I am considering not watching F1 anymore.

It really is at a crossroads these next couple of years. With how expensive it is to run in the sport now, teams are really struggling because of the financial situation of the world. While there's also a lot of talk Ecclestone and co want to bring in a standard engine for ALL teams from 2010 onwards. Ferrari have said they may pull out ouf of F1 if this happened as they wouldn't be allowed to develop and test their own engines, while Alonso said he may retire already from the sport if this change happened.

excellent post Chris!there's only thing I like about the financial crisis, Hockenheim is in trouble. it's the circuit I dislike the most because the most talented driver ever (with Senna but I like Imola) was killed there: Scotttish legend Jim Clark. and with the new layout in the 90's, the memorial where he lost his life is in the middle of the forest, very difficult to reach.

Thanks Conchita Yeah you are right Hockenheim is another track which is in trouble, thats not a circuit I particularly like either. Thats very sad how Jim Clark died there and now the memorial for him is in the middle of the forest The track has completely changed in the last few years and no longer holds its tradition as one of, if not the fastest track in F1. Its just an average, everyday track now with its tradition and history gone so it might as well be removed from the calendar with all these changes that are going on.

the Old Nurburring and the legendary Avus will always be the best german f1 track, Stewart called the Ring in Nurburg " the green hell"

also with the financial crisis, Ecclestone doesnt care but teams are not happy about losing big markets, canadian gp, us grand prix, french gp....

And an all British and Scottish rivalry at that it would have been

I don't at all like the new Nurburg Ring, so ordinary and no excitment in the track and not a real track to test the drivers, so seems that change from the old track to the new Nurberring track was a backwards step too.

Yeah those markets you rightly mention are huge and for teams to lose them at this time with the world and finance as it is, then its a huge blow to them and something they could really do with right now.

Things certainly not looking good for f1....Honda was one of the few teams I liked...Honda have been perhaps the only company (in both race cars and non race cars) to emphasize the importance of meeting global pollution standards....they were the first to meet Euro 5 standards and they were the first to research on non-gas substitutes for cars..(projects still going on in a big way...they haven't suspended that despite the recession)... BTW what is the need to introduce the same type of engines in all the cars? Ferrari is right...where's the scope of improvement then? If Force india and Ferrari have the same engine...that would be a pathetic scenario...Ferrari have been known to improvise at a rapid fire rate...definitely a huge blow...as it is I was gradually losing interest in the sport because of the decreasing overtakes year after year..most cars that start in pole position winning the race...it had become quite boring actually because F1 is a sport of adrenaline rush...if this is the way its going to be, i'm afraid f1 is going to be deep in trouble.

Yeah Honda went for a much more environmentally friendly car for the 2008 season but thing with that was it cost them any chance of competing with the other teams. They quickly realised the car had no pace and simply wasn't good enough in all aspects so instead wrote the season off in April to look purely to 2009 and then this happens. The company will have lost and wasted £200 million on 2009 and not to mention the staff and trying to develop the cars- so hours and hours of time for no result.They are maybe looking to standardise all engines and have them the same for all teams from 2010 because the costs of the sport are running out of control. The average team will spend almost £300 a year on the sport, so about $500 million per season. Teams as Honda have shown just can't keep this up and the smaller teams wil be the first to drop off. If they can have the same engine for all teams it will mean the costs are cut in terms of development and costs will be cut for the really huge engines some teams produce. But I agree you can't have a Ferrari and Force India running on the same engines. There would be very little point in having teams then as the main thing teams develop- the engine would no longer be possible. Thats why Ferrari may look to get out of the sport if they can't do that and why Alonso may look to move away from F1.I used to love F1 with all the overtaking and exciting drama but now I couldn't agree with you more when you talk about the overtaking aspect. This has almost gone now, and more street circuits is only going to kill that even more. No overtaking in some of the races now makes it so boring and hard to watch. Pole position wins more than ver now, which is not at all good for the sport, its image and getting and keeping fans. Just think how the overtaking would decrease even more if they were all running the same engines. The only thing to separate drivers then would be smaller aspects of the cars performance and the quality of the driver himself.

Exactly which only means that we won't have terrific combos of man and machine any more....Alonso-Renault or schumi-ferrari, Mc Laren-Hamilton.....its all going to be the same...Ferrari hugely relies on its technological advances...frankly none of the drivers out there have the natural talent of hamilton...which means, give the same car to all, hamilton will zoom to victory in every race...which implies there's going to be a terrible dearth of competition...even more bad news for the fans....What's with them making the tracks narrower and narrower? Do they want to make it even more boring? i miss the good old days of racing....Changing of tracks is no good....btw what's your opinion on the night race in singapore?? That's something i couldn't take a liking to....Ok its unique...but i need time to get used to it...i don't like the Malasian GP either...the facilities there are really not upto the mark...soaring temperatures don't help either...why modify perfect tracks and make them so narrow? Atleast i hope the recession doesn't affect the way it is predicted to...

Definitely those fantastic combo's you come up with would be a thing of the past with all the teams having the same engines. Hamilton has got unbelievable natural talent in the car and of the current drivers I feel there is only Alonso that could challenge him in that respect so that would dramatically reduce the competition.The modern way for circuits now seems to me to make them narrower. I've no idea why they would want to do that, as a wider track just using common sense says there's going to be much more racing. I know some of the tracks have been changed and redeveloped for safety reasons. The engines got bigger and more powerful so as a result they reduce the speed of tracks to compensate for this. Maybe thats a little to do with narrower tracks.Singapore and a night race was very different and a new experience to say the least and its pretty cool to have the sport going through the heart of the city at night. But its another slower street circuit, with not a lot of chance to overtake. If it wasn't for the crash there this year and the safety car coming out when it did to completely change the positions in the race it would have been boring. I just don't know how big an effect the race will be when the novelty of night racing wears off. Also I was not at all impresed with the slow and small Valencia track- thats not the way for this sport to go at all.Malaysia does have the serious problem of humidity and its terrible conditions for the drivers, and then other times there you have the almost monsoon rain- so thats a tough race. I think the rack is better than most of those recent developed ones in Asia and that part of the world. As I think Asia/Middle East are tracks far too similar to one another, and this along with no history at the track or city seems to make the GP less worthy still. Some of the tracks being made now are s 'ordinary' and 'boring' they're not doing anything at all to help the sport and take it forward.

Nothing to beat the good old european tracks Chris...absolutely nothing...

Spa made a wonderful new layout, the new track is even better than the old track.What they did in Zandvoort is dramatic especially when the Hungaroring took his place in the calendar.Le Castellet could be a great option for France -there were f1 races there- but now it's a testing venue. Ecclestone is the owner.Magny Cours was the worst french track ever. great old french tracks: Charade, Rouen, Reims. Old Brands Harch was better than Silverstone.Osterreichring was also a great track especially the daunting blind first corner. Bremgarten was legendary.

The old Interlagos and Kyalami were excellent. the renovation in Brazil was ok but Kyalami was terrible, drivers didnt want to compete there in the 90's.

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TOKYO (AFP) — Japanese automaker Honda announced it had sold its Formula One team to former principal Ross Brawn, rescuing it from collapse and allowing it to compete in the upcoming world championship.

Brawn immediately said he would keep experienced drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, banking on their racing know-how to make up for lost time ahead of the F1 season opener March 29 in Melbourne.

This deal saves the Honda team from falling victim to the global economic crisis which has seen big companies slashing costs wherever they can to stay afloat.

Honda and Brawn did not disclose the cost of the deal but said the company had sold all shares of its Honda Racing F1 Team to him.

"As a result of this sale, the team ownership has transferred to Mr Brawn, who plans to have the new team compete for this year's FIA Formula One World Championship," Honda said in a statement.

The new owners said the outfit -- now called the Brawn GP Formula One Team -- had agreed a partnership with British-based Mercedez-Benz High Performance Engines to supply its 2.4-litre engine.

Brawn GP acknowledged in its statement that "the past few months have been extremely challenging," and that Friday's announcement "is the very pleasing conclusion to the strenuous efforts that have been made to secure its future."

Brawn said the huge experience of Button and Barrichello, who have started 423 races in total between them, would be invaluable after the lost winter.

"The vast experience and knowledge that both drivers bring to our team will prove invaluable as we aim to get up to speed in the shortest possible time to be ready for the first race of the season," he said.

Barrichello is the most experienced driver in Formula One history, having raced in 271 Grand Prix, winning nine.

Honda had in December announced it was exiting Formula One in a bid to cut costs during the economic downturn, which has ravaged Japanese exports to the United States, Europe and other markets.

The move sparked new calls for the glamour sport to slash its mind-boggling budgets, and prompted Toyota to hurry out a statement pledging its continued commitment to the championship.

In December, Japan's Fuji Heavy Industries, maker of Subaru cars, said it would withdraw from the world rally championship, followed by an announcement in January by major motorcycle maker Kawasaki that it was pulling out of the MotoGP.

Honda has also said it will scale down its motorcycle racing activities to cope with the economic crisis, notably skipping this year's Suzuka Eight Hours endurance championship.

Hiroshi Oshima, the managing officer of Honda's motor sports, said in the statement: "We have conducted various studies and discussions so that the team can continue its activities as a new team."

"We are very pleased that we could sell the team to Ross Brawn with whom we have been partaking in the challenges of F1 competition, and are grateful for his decision," he added.

Great news to see Honda come through a serious scare when just a couple of months back it looked as if they would be out of F1. Also such a relief for Button and Barrichello to get a drive in 2009. A team like Honda need to be in F1. How well will they do though?? They've lost a whole winter of testing, preparing, modifying specific aspects- that time will be impossible to regain and could make it a very difficult season for Honda.

Great news to see Honda come through a serious scare when just a couple of months back it looked as if they would be out of F1. Also such a relief for Button and Barrichello to get a drive in 2009. A team like Honda need to be in F1. How well will they do though?? They've lost a whole winter of testing, preparing, modifying specific aspects- that time will be impossible to regain and could make it a very difficult season for Honda.

I don't expect them to do very well but at least they are back....its a renowned company and a face of motor sports. we need them. Good for Button and Barichello too.

Jackie Stewart has agreed to go unpaid in his ambassadorial role for RBS after the bank posted the biggest corpoate loss in British history.

Stewart has a reputed £4 million contract with RBS until 2011, and in his role represents the bank at corporate and sporting functions and entertains its VIP guests at grands prix around the globe.

"We are in discussions and I have made them a very generous offer," the 69-year-old said.

"RBS and I get on very well; I have been there now since 2003 and I have a very good relationship with the bank.

"We have a contract and we have a relationship, and I think you'll find the bank is very satisfied with what I do for them. Nobody has come to me with regard to taking less money, but I have made them an offer. That is between the bank and myself.

"I'm very proud to be associated with the bank. I have had nothing to do with any of the troubles with the bank. I want to be part of building the bank back to where it would like to be."

"Sir Jackie has offered to fulfil his contractual obligations in 2009 without payment, which RBS is very pleased to accept," revealed a statement from the bank.

"In recognition of the changed financial and economic circumstances facing RBS, Sir Jackie Stewart has been in discussion with the group over a period of weeks about the remaining terms of his contract.

"Sir Jackie wants to help the bank with its new strategic objective of rebuilding stand-alone strength by serving its customers well, in the UK and globally, in the next three years."

-Eurosport-

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